Folding chair bed



J. ,LUPPINO. FOLDING cum BED. APPLlCATION FILED DEC. 23, 192 0.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.'

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

,INVENTOR Joseph Luppm 0 BY His ATTORNEYS} I. LUPPINO, FOLDING CHAIR BED. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 23, I920.

Patented Feb. 28,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR Jose Lu u vino BY HIS ATTORNEYSW UNITED TATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH LUPPINO, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FOLDING CHAIR BED;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosnPH LUPPINO', a citizen of the United States, residin at Brooklyn, in the county of'Kings and tate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Chair Beds, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to folding chair beds, and more particularly to an article of furniture of this type, which may be readily and easily converted from a chair into a bed, an object thereof being to provide achair bed which will be simple in construction and operation, economical to manufacture, durable and serviceable in use and adapted to be converted into a full-length bed with a minimum of effort.

A. further object is to providea folding chair bed having a chair seat-pivoted or hinged to the supporting framework at one side thereof and a sectional springmattress solelysuppo'rted by the framework adjacent one side thereof,the rear section thereof being suspended or swung from the seat by means of a pair of hangers, the construction drawings forming part ofthis specification,

wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, and wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofa chair bed'in its closedposition; Fig-2is a perspective-view of an embodiment of my invention illustrating a step in the operation of unfoldingthe bed; Fig.8 is a perspective view showing a bed in its unfolded position; Fig. 4 [is a" side View partly in section illustrating my improved chair bed in its unfolded position,'parts being broken away; Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating various connectingparts.

In its preferredform herein shown and described,my invention comprises a support ing framework 9, and a chair seat 10 hinged at one side thereof as at 13/ The chair seat in the present case comprises a seat 11, arms 12, and a back 12 forming an integral struc- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb, 28, 1922,

' Application filed December 23, 1920. Serial no. 432,697.

ture. This chair seat is box-like in form and is provided with a compartment 14 adjacent to the back portion thereof and adapted .60 Adapted'to be housed within the framework" to provide storage space for a pillow.

andbelow the seat in its closed position is a sectional spring mattress comprising a rear section 15, an intermediate section 16 pivoted thereto as at 30, and a front section 17 pivotedto the intermediate section as at 31;

Adjacent to the rear of the section 15 at each side thereof as at 18 are pivoted a pair of hangers 18 also pivoted to the seat as at 19.

The sectional mattress is supported adjacent to the front side of the framework 9 by to the section17 and pivotally connected 'tov a movable link 22, connected to the intermediate section 16. VVhen unfolding the sections, it is necessary to provide means'for' positioning the intermediate and rear sec tions in prolongation or alinement with each other and in order to accomplish this, I provide a lever 23 pivoted at 28 to each side rail of the front mattress section 17 and pivotally connected to a depending member 24 rigidly secured to the rear section substantially at'its pivotal point of connection with theintermediate section. It will'thus be seen, referring to Fig. 5, that each joint 30 is substantially in the form of a toggle joint 'controlled'by a lever 23, which, as will} be readilyobserved, is further controlled in the opening and closing of the bed by the front section 17. Upon unfolding the sections to the position'shown in Fig. 4, the lever 23 operates to straighten the toggle joint '30 and is adapted to maintain and lock the sections 15 and 16 in horizontal alinement thereby to prevent the possible collapse of the sameupon placing weight thereon. sections form substantially a toggle con- Thus the rear and intermediate trolledby a single; member 23 ateach'side ofthesections, said member connected di rectly to the front section and controlled thereby.

' I provide'a suitable head rest 25 hinged to the front section 17 and adapted to be moved into the position illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 .to a horizontal inverted position;

by means of links 26 connected to the mov able legs 21. Upon folding the sections to the positions illustrated-either 'inFig. 2 or Fig. 1, the head rest 25 is swung ormoved rearwardly as illustrated in Fig. 2, thereby to enable it to be housed within the frame-' work)" a a In operation, it willbe .readilyobserved that my improved folding chair bed isconvertedginto a: full-length single bed merely by swinging the seat 10 rearwardly about the. axis of its hinged connection with the supporting structure 9. Duringthisoperation the sectional mattress is partially opened and is lifted or elevatedto a position enabling the sections to be unfolded withgreat ease. and facility. As the chair seat swun rearwardly, thesection 15 due to the fact that it issuspended adjacent the rear, end by means of hangers 18 pivoted thereto, and to the bottom of the seat, is swung rearwardly and upwardlyfrom a substantially. horizontal position within the,

housing to a rearwardly inclined position. Theentire mattress is thus elevated and partially opened, and is completely unfolded thereupon by swinging the front section 17 tue ofthelinksQQ, the movable legs 21v are unfolded to the upright supporting position illustratedin Fig. at and by virtue of the links 26, the, head rest 25 is also positioned as illustrated in Fig. 4. By means of the levers 23, connected to themovable' section 17, pressure is automatically applied upon unfolding the sections. to the toggle joint 30 thereby straightening the same and positioning and maintaining the sections 15 and 16in horizontal alinement, thereby locking the same in. position.

The toggle lever 23 thus operates upon the toggle joint 30 to. control the same, and to exertsuch pressure thereon as will position the same in alinement with pivot 31 and pivot18, thus exerting endwise pres sure :upon the toggle links formed byfthe side. rails of sections 15 and 16 (see Figs. 4

and 5), and as a result shifting the inner.

section..l5v through hangers 18 is directly suppor'tedand suspended independently of the framework.throughthe medium of the seat. By means of these hangers 18, I am able to utilize the weight of the seat for partially elevating and. opening the mattress sections, as itwill be observed that upon By virswinging the seat 10 to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, the Weight of the seat is effective through the links 18 to swing the rear section rearwardly and upwardly, and

thus elevate the entire mattress. Furthermore, by virtue of the hangers 18, the mattress in open position,'is elevated or posie tioned above the supporting framework, the intervening space 27 being desirable and effective to permit, the use of a springfabric of increased resiliency. To facilitate the manipulation. ofthe folding bed, lostmotion slots 28 areprovided,inthehangers 18, and

lost motion slots29 are provided in the toggle or lockinglevers 23, thus producing a desirable and increased flexibility in the operation. of the various inter-connected parts during. the opening and closing ofthB-SBO tional mattress. The hangerlinks 18 are detachably. connected in any suitable .manner to the. seat whereby the same a may be disconw nectedtherefrom and the section 15 swung.

back on itspivots 3O to permit access. to the .rear of. the supportingframework and the.

compartment 14. p v

In the folded or closed position of the sectional mattress, or in the positionillustrated in Fig, 2, the intermediate section 16 is positioned. at right angles .to the outer and inner sections, thus providing space therebetween for the mattress orsbed clothes 31.

From the foregoing itwill be seenthat by means of the improved,organization ofthe several parts, it is not necessary, in orderto open or close the bed, to ha dle the combined weight of theheavy, usually. uphol stered or tufted seat and .the sectional bed 7 with its bedding. That is to say, in manip ulating the.stru cture, the seat is first swung to the rear. of the framework to rest upon the floor, thus acting asa lever'to partially raise or elevate the sectional mattress from .ltS housed position within the framework and supporting body. of the chair. The weight of the. seat, upon swinging it reare wardly beyondthe vertical plane through its axis, operates. thereupon, to elevate. the

sectional mattress, thereby count'erbalancing the weight of the mattress at this timeandv facilitating quick and easy manipulation of the parts .with a minimum of efi'ort.;; Subsequent tothisthe sectional mattress is unfolded and completely opened merely by graspingand swinging the forward or front section which, due to its singlepivot-alcon-. nection adjacent to each side atthe frontiof the framework, acts with; the toggle lever 23 as alever to position theflrearsand intermediate sections ,in alinement; with the. front section Thuslthe necessity ofhandlingany result the entire structure canbe easily manipulated by a child or a woman.

In the opening of the structure the seat V is throwntothe rear or in one direction to considerable weightis eliminated and as a rest upon the floor while the front section is thereupon shifted to the front or opposite direction, so that by reason of the simple connection between the parts the seatand the front section of the bed are effective, with the exercise of but little effort, to operate, move, and control all the other parts of the structure. It will also be observed that there is a minimum of connections and levers in this improved structure since the sectional mattress is pivotally connected with the framework solely byca pair of standards or upright members, and is connected with the seat solely by means of a pair of hangers, these two connecting means constituting the sole means of supporting the entire sectional mattress relatively to the framework and the seat.

Heretofore convertible structures having a seat and arms and a sectional mattress adapted to be folded and unfolded have been constructed so that the seat only is shifted, the arms being rigid with the supports, and as a result the effective width of the mat-- tress is restricted to a width somewhat less than the width of the seat alone. By virtue of my construction however wherein the entire upper part of the chairincluding seat, arms, and back is swung rearwardly, greater space is available within the frame work for the sectional mattress and the latter may thereby have an effective width greater than the width of the seat and substantially or approximately as great the width of the seat and arms or the sup porting framework,

It will be seen that the foregoing structhe framework, so far as the matter of utilization of the front width thereof is involvedas compared to other structures heretofore made, is reduced in the present instance materially without redueing the effective width of the bed.

Although I have described a preferred em bodiment of my invention, it will be understood that I do not limit'myselfto the exact details of construction hereinbefore described,-but may make suchichanges as come within the scope of the appended claims. 'i

I claim as my invention: g 1. In a folding'chair bed, the combination of a. supporting framework, a chair seat hinged to one side of said framework for swinging movement to the rear thereof, a sectional spring mattress housed within said framework and openable to form a .fulllength bed in the direction of its length and be unfolded thereby to permit the front sec- I tion to be swung in a direct-ion opposite to the direction of movement of the seat thereby to open the bed.

2. In a folding chair bed, the combination of a supporting framework, a swinging seat hinged to one side of said framework, a sectional bed frame pivotally connected to the opposite side of said framework and adapted to be housed therein, means comprising a pair of hangers connecting the seat with the rear section of said bed frame and effective to shift the bed frame upon the rearward swinging of'the seat into position to permit the bed-frame to be unfolded and also effective to support the entire weight of the rear of the bed frame from the seat when the same is unfolded. i A

8. In a folding chair bed, the combination of a framework, a swinging seat hinged to one side of said framework, a sectional mat tress housed within the frame work, said mattress having only one pointof connection at each side thereof with the framework, and a single means of'connection at each side thereof with the seat. tuI'al features are highly important in the 4:. In a folding chair bed the combination of a framework, a rearwardly swinging seat, a three-section mattress adapted to be housed within the framework, said entire mattress having only three means of support at each side and including means adjacent to the front of the framework about whichthe mattress is adapted to turn when folding and unfolding the same.

In a folding chair bed, the combination of a framework, a swinging seat hinged to one side of said framework, a sectional mat tress housed within the framework, said mattress having only one means of connection at each side thereof with the framework,

and a single means of connection at'each side thereof with the seat, such connection with the seat being effective to shift the mat tress into position tobe unfolded and to susaend the rear of the sectional mattress from supportthe entire weight of the rear of said mattress. Z

' 6. In a folding chair bed, the combination of a supporting framework, a swinging seat hinged to one side of said framework, asectional mattress adapted to be housed within the framework upon the closing of the seat the seat when unfolded, and also effective to and to be partially lifted from the frameworkin readiness to be unfolded'upon the opening of the seat, said sectional mattress.

of a supporting framework, a swingingseat hingedly connected to said framework, a sectional. mattress adapted to be housed within the framework upon the closing of the seat and to be partially lifted from the framework in readiness to beunfolded upon the opening of the seat, said sectional mat tress having the rear section thereof directly. supported independently of the framework through the medium of the seat only, and having a single pivotal connection at each side thereof with the framework, whereby upon swinging the seat rearwardly the weight thereof at a predetermined point will be effective by lever action to elevate the.

sectional mattress to a partially open position.

8. In a convertible bed, the. combination of a supporting framework, a movable seat connected thereto, a foldable sectional-mattress adapted to be housed in said-framework, the rear section and'the section adjacent thereto forming substantially a toggle, and a single means connectedto asection for operating said toggle thereby to impartendwise movement to the rearsection only.

9. In a folding chair bed, the combination of a framework, a seat hingedly connected to one side thereof, a sectional mattress comprising a front and a rearsection adapted to be housed therein, said sectional mattress being pivotally supported independently of the rear section solely adjacent to the opposite side of said framework, means for sus'- pending said sectional mattress from the seat and comprising a pair of hangers pivoted to the seat and to the rear section, whereby jacent the opposite sideof said framework,

means for'suspending said sectional mattress from the seat and comprising a pair of hangers pivoted to the seat and to the rear section, whereby upon swmgmg said seat rearwardly, the weight thereof Wlll be effecframework, a swinging seat hinged toxoneside thereof, a sectional mattress comprising i a front, rear and intermediate section pivotally, connected together and supported when unfolded by the framework solely at the pointof connection of the front and intermediate sections, therear section thereof having a single means oficonnection at -each side with the seat, and means automatically,

operative upon unfolding said sectional mattress to position the intermediateand inner sections in prolongation with-each other,

12. In a foldingchair1 bed, the combination of a supporting framework, a swinging seat hinged thereto, a foldable mattress having. only one means of connection at each side wlth the framework, and a single .llnk

connection at-eachside with the seat.

13. In a folding chairbed, the combinae tion of-a supporting framework, aswinging seat hinged thereto, a foldable mattress having, when unfolded, solely one means of support at each side upon the framework, and a single. link connection at each side with the seat,- the construction being such that upon unfolding the bed the weight of the seat co-unterbalancesv the, weight is the mattress. i 1-4. The combinationof a supporting frame.-

- work, a rearwardly swinging seat hinged thereto, a sectional mattress normally housed within the framework and including a rear section shiftable from a position within the framework toward the rear ofthe framework when. the mattress is unfolded, said rear section in unfolded, position extending at least as far as the rear of the framework.

15. In a folding bed, thefcombination. of

a supporting framework, aswinging: seat:

hinged thereto, a foldable sectional mattress adaptedto be housed therein, the rear and intermediate sections of said mattress forming substantially a toggle, and means for operating said toggle to impart endwise movement to one of said sections "only.

16. In a folding bed, the combination of a supporting framework,-a swinging seat hinged thereto, a. foldable sectional mattress adapted to be housed therein, therear and andintermediate sections of said mattress forming substantially a toggle, and means controlled by the-front section and operative substantially at the juncture point of said rear and intermediate sections for operating the toggle to impart endwise m0vement to one of said sections only.

17. The combination 1 of a supporting framework-a swinging seathinged thereto,

a sectional mattress normally housed within the framework and including a rear section shiftable from a position within the framework toward and beyond the rear of the framework when the mattress is unfolded and means for supporting the mattress.

18. The combination of a supporting framework, a rearwardly swinging seat hinged thereto, a sectional mattress normally housed within the framework and including a rear section shiftable from a position within the framework to the rear part of the framework when the mattress is unfolded,

said mattress including self-locking means for maintaining the same in its unfolded position.

19. The combination of a supporting framework, a swinging seat hinged thereto, a sectional mattress normally housed within the framework and comprising front, rear and intermediate sections, said rear and intermediate sections forming substantially a toggle, and means for controlling said toggle and effective upon unfolding said mattress to impart endwise movement to the rear section only, said means being effective to lock the mattress in its unfolded position. i 20. The combination of a supporting framework a rearwardly swinging seat hinged thereto and comprising as an integral structure a seat, a back, and side arms, a sectional mattress having a width as great as the width of the seat'normally housed within the framework and including the rear section shiftable from a position within the framework to a position above the framework when the mattress is unfolded, and means for supporting the mattress.

21. The combination of a supporting framework a rearwardly swinging seat hinged thereto and comprising as an integral structure a seat, a back, and side arms, the back being adapted to rest upon the floor in its tilted position, a sectional mattress having a width greater than the effective width of the seat normally housed within the framework and including a rear section shiftable from a position within the framework toward the rear of the framework when the the sole support for the rear end of the mattress.

' 23. A convertible chair bed comprising a framework, a foldable mattress adapted to be housed therein and comprising three sections only, a rearwardly swinging seat hinged. to the framework, the several sections of said mattress being constructed to form when unfolded a full length bed in the direction of unfolding and transversely of the width of the several sections.

24:. A convertible chair bed comprising a framework a foldable mattress adapted to be housed therein and comprising three sections only, a rearwardly swinging seat hinged to the framework said mattress being adapted to be unfolded to form a full length bed inthe direction of unfolding, said direction being transverse to the front width of said seat, said seat comprising as an integral structure a seat, a back and side arms, and said mattress having a width as great as the width of the seat thereby to permit utilization of substantially the greatest possible front width of the framework.

25. A convertible chair bed comprising a framework, a foldable mattress adapted to be housed therein and comprising three sections only, a rearwardly swinging seat hinged to the framework, said mattress being adapted to be unfolded to form a full length bed in the direction of unfolding, said rear section having an endwise shiftable movement at least as far as the rear of the framework upon unfolding the mattress.

Signed at 1822 Park Row Biulding, New York city, New York, this 20th day of December, 1920.

JOSEPH LUP-PINO. 

